And We'll All Float on Okay
by deanisgayforcas
Summary: In which Kate comes back and gets the group together again for a fun, fluff filled day where they deal with issues, form relationships, and reminisce about those they lost.


Kate Bishop's hand hovered over the send button as she reread the massive group text message she was about to send out to all her friends. Nervousness fluttered in her belly. She'd been gone for a good while, and now that she was back, she was determined to get the old gang back together. That is, _if_ they wanted to see her and if they were still hanging around.

She bit the bullet and sent the message as she unlocked her apartment door and put her purse and keys down at the kitchen table. She was unpacking some of her things in the bedroom when her phone buzzed with a message from Billy saying he was on his way.

More texts poured in from the various members, who said they would all stop by at some point in the day. Well, all except Noh-Varr, who apologised for being off world and not able to visit at the moment. But that was okay, because Billy was the first person who would be there, and she missed her best friend with a fierce passion.

Her doorbell rang shortly after that. Kate smoothed her hands over her skirt and held her breath as she answered the door. Billy looked taller and ganglier, a little worse for wear, but definitely better looking than he had been the last time she saw him.

"Thanks for coming," she said, letting him through the door way.

"Yep," he said back.

She led him into her kitchen and Billy took a set at the table. "I'm gonna make some coffee. You want any?"

Billy shook his head. "Nah, you go ahead."

Kate busied herself with the coffee filter and pouring the coffee grounds into it and filling the machine with water, hoping that she could come up with something to say to Billy so things would be less awkward between them. When she had nothing left to do but turn the machine on and wait for the coffee to be made, she sat down at the table and looked at her best friend.

"Hi," Kate said shyly, smiling across the kitchen table at Billy.

"Hi," Billy muttered back.

Kate frowned at him. It had been a while since they had last talked about things and she didn't know what to make of Billy's sort of non-answer. Usually he was full of funny stories to tell her or completely random facts he had picked up on the internet. Billy was silly, that was kind of his thing, and Kate didn't know how much had changed since she'd been gone.

Clearly it had been a lot.

"So I'm back now. For good," she said.

Billy scoffed. "Yeah, according to America you've been back for a couple weeks and haven't even bothered to talk to me."

Kate winced at the venom in her best friend's voice. It's not that she didn't want to talk to him about stuff, she had just been really busy lately. Like really busy. She came back and Clint was a mess and his brother wasn't necessarily helping. She had to take a little down time to talk to her mentor and smooth things over and help him relearn what it was like to be partially deaf. They were still testing out hearing aids.

And, even though Kate didn't want to admit it, she was sort of scared to talk to Billy. She didn't want him to resent her because she hadn't put away the proverbial cape while Billy refused to even touch his magic because he was terrified of it. Kate didn't have powers to be scared of, just bad guys who could break her bow and maybe get a punch or two in on her.

She guessed she'd forgotten how to talk to him.

The coffee machine gurgled on the counter and Kate stood up from the table to retrieve it. She unplugged the coffee maker and took the pot back to the table and sipped from it.

She heard Billy laughing at her as she set the pot down. "What?" she asked.

"You _do_ own mugs, you know."

"Right. Sorry. I'm just so used to Clint's. He doesn't believe in anything but drinking from the pot."

Billy's expression darkened at the mention of Clint. Oh, futz. How was she gonna fix this now?

"Okay," she sighed. "This looks bad." She grimaced at her words, because she was sure this wasn't helping any. "I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't know what to say, or what I _could_ say, or if you wanted to be alone, or if you were spending quality time with Teddy, or what. And I suppose I just sort of assumed you didn't want to talk to me and that you were dealing through your stuff alone. Which is awful of me, by the way. I'm a shitty best friend and I deserve to be burned at the stake."

"Come on, Katie, no you don't. I'm just upset, okay? You're not a bad friend. I'm upset because I wish we were all still as close as we used to be before everything happened. I have Teddy, but I need more than him. It's hard to talk to Tommy and Eli isn't here and I miss you. And I thought you were replacing me with Clint because you were mad at me. You know, for what I did."

Kate sighed and got up out of her chair at the table. She leaned down by Billy's feet and put her hands on his jeans clad thighs. "Billy, I'm not mad at you. And especially not for that. Okay? I'm here for you no matter what, even when you force me to watch _West Side Story_ with you or talk about some piece of mythology that goes way over my head. I love you and your weirdness and your family and your uncontrollable wild magic because it's who you are. And trust me babe, no one can replace you. Okay?"

"'Kay," he mumbled.

"Good," Kate said. "Now why don't we go watch some cheery musical you love and you can fill me in on everything that I've missed since I've been gone. You go start the movie and I'll make the popcorn.

Five minutes later Kate and Billy were snuggled up on the couch with popcorn and coffee. Billy talked animatedly about Tommy and David and how he was picturing his future with Teddy in between random facts about the actors and the production of _The Big Sleep_. Kate had not failed to point out that the film was neither cheery nor a musical, but she sat through it and listened to Billy talk anyway, because Billy was family. And if it meant sitting through a boring Humphrey Bogart movie with him and letting him rant about his fiancé and his soul brother and life in the Kaplan household, then there was no place else she would rather be.

Loki teleported in about halfway through the movie, his clothes a little torn and looking shell shocked, but neither of them paused in their banter to look at the young man. Loki instead sat on the floor in front of the couch and tucked his long limbs underneath him and watched the movie in abashed silence.

Tommy and David burst in not long after that. Tommy's hair was impossibly messy and David's shirt looked rumpled, which made Kate smirk, because that was classic blackmail material. The two boys sat at the other end of the couch and tried to pay attention to the movie before Tommy got bored and started talking a mile a minute to David about something Kate and Billy didn't understand.

Billy texted Teddy to hurry up and come join the party and around the time the first film was over, (and collectively their band of friends had chosen to watch _Inception _over anything Billy had to say) Teddy was walking into their headquarters with America in tow.

Billy of course jumped off the couch to greet his future husband with a big hug and a kiss that made the whole group groan over how sickeningly cute they were.

He tugged Teddy back on to the couch and the bigger man wrapped his arms around Billy's smaller form. There was a space in between the cuddling duo where Kate was sitting, which left a perfect space for America to sit down at. Kate's stomach twisted at the thought of her telling America she could sit there and engaging the other girl in conversation because…well, there were lots of unresolved feelings there. Or whatever the kids were calling it these days.

Instead Kate opted to talk to Teddy. "Hey, Altman," she said, "Thanks for taking care of Billy while I was gone. I missed you guys."

Teddy smiled his sloppy smile that was full of sunshine and friendliness and oh man, Kate had forgotten just how nice Teddy was. She missed him a lot more than she thought she had. "Missed you too, Bishop."

Billy cleared his throat. "Stop standing there staring at us, America. You're making me nervous. Go sit down next to Kate."

Kate shot Billy a dirty look. The boy just smirked at her and rose his eyebrows, daring her to tell him she _wasn't_ crushing on an intergalactic hottie.

America eyed the space nervously, but Kate gifted her with a small, hesitant smile and America sat between the boys and Kate, her arms still crossed over her chest.

Then she snorted. "Are you gonna make a move, princess, or do I have to do that fake yawn and accidentally put my arm around you thing?"

Kate's mouth opened to form some kind of response, but she didn't know what to say. Of course America _knew_ that Kate was working on her _am I or aren't I attracted to other girls_ dilemma, but they hadn't actually done anything about it yet.

Kate looked around the room she was in, surrounded by her family. Tommy and David were curled up together and yelling at the characters on the screen. Teddy and Billy were sneaking kisses. Her phone buzzed in her lap with a text from Noh-Varr. Loki was actually being pleasant and quiet and very non-Trickster like. And if everyone else could be happy, hell, why couldn't she too?

She ducked her head shyly and slid into America's arms. The girl smelled like the earth and she was soft and warm and Kate thought she could get used to this feeling. "Stop calling me princess," she muttered.

"Not a chance," America whispered, her eyes full of sparkles and hope.

Kate heard Billy sigh. "I wish the rest of our friends were here," he said quietly.

The room was quiet, contemplative. Only the sound of the voices on the television could be heard. Kate knew everyone else was feeling the same thing she was. Eli had escaped to Phoenix and hadn't exactly been the best at keeping in touch with them. Cassie and Jonas weren't ever coming back, and that left a lump in her throat every time she thought that, but this time the pain was a little less.

She looked around the group of friends again—no, not friends, family—and knew that as long as they had each other, they could get through anything that life threw their way. Even if the Young Avengers were disbanded, and some of them were retired from the superhero world for good, they had a bond now that transcended beyond that. She looked around and saw hope.

"Yeah, me too," she said back, just as quiet. All the other who had known their lost members muttered in agreeance.

"I wish I could have met them," America said. "Especially Cassie." Kate looked up at America to see she was wearing a thoughtful expression. "What was she like?"

And that's what the group did for the rest of the night. They shared their countless stories with America and Loki and David of their friends. They laughed and cried and maybe started to heal a bit from the wounds they'd let fester for way too long. They found that talking to each other about their memories, dealing with all of their feelings as a group, brought them closer. And as they sat in a circle on the floor, their movie completely abandoned, they felt invincible.

Maybe things were going to be all right after all.


End file.
